SALINAS ONCE AGAIN
Paco Solá Tanca
For the seventh year the Salinas Yacht Club hosted the American Airlines Cup of Champions Regatta on January 24-26, which from the organizers point of view was a huge success. As always, American Airlines and our home club were 100% supportive, which is the only reason why we can continue to host this regatta every year.
Well, it is kind of unique to come down to Ecuador in the middle of winter and find yourself basking in the sun and sailing in warm waters with 12-15 knots of breeze. Apparently we did convince Tim Healy and his crew that this is one of the best places to sail, party and fish in the world. Key West is not that bad either, Tim. I'm not sure if he could catch the Super Bowl, but good thing, because his team lost anyway . . . And as for Matt Fisher, if he comes down here once more he will probably think about asking his boss for relocation! We'll definitely help getting you acquainted.
Yeah, we could say they had fun.
Sailing was good, too, especially for the US friends who kicked some local butt. We had steady winds and tough wave conditions, plus two race courses to make it more challenging, but all this definitely backfired on us! Tim, Matt and Tito Gonzalez really showed their stuff and made us rethink our whole training program for the upcoming events.
In the end, everyone was happy with the results, because they were well-deserved. But as we said at the awards ceremony, revenge is sweet and whoever wins gets to carry those heavy glass trophies back home and boy were they heavy . . .
Sail good this year, see you in Salinas the next.
(Salinas Yacht Club will host the 1998 Lightning Youth World Championships and has put in a strong bid to host the 1999 Lightning World Championships)
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